Miss Alexis

My little Alexis Claire Hodges/Lexi/Chica/Baby Girl lol will be 1 in 13 days! I seriously cannot believe it. She is going to be a toddler!!!

I said I needed to update about what she's been up to, so this is it.

What is she eating now?:
Well Alexis is eating her veggie and fruit solids and she is also having oatmeal and barley. She has been eating a lot more table food lately. She loves having beans, rice, and meat :) She's so Mexican lol She likes spaghetti and pasta soups. I've also given her pineapple,bananas and orange, not the purees but the actual fruit. She loves loves loves pineapple.

She is drinking water, we're not giving her juice or anything anytime soon.

Formula?
Well Alexis isn't really wanting to drink it. In the morning and at night she will drink 6oz no problem but through out the day she can barely have 4oz every couple of hours, she'll drink some of it but then just chew on the nipple and play with it. I feel like she's kind of over it. I know that it's normal to stop giving babies formula or breast milk when they turn 1 and switch over to whole cows milk, but I'm not sure if we should do that; I am waiting to speak with Alexis' doctor.

What new moves does she have?:
Well Alexis has been crawling for some time but she likes to crawl backwards lol and to the side a lot she only crawls forward a little bit. She can take some steps to the side and stand very well when she's holding on to something, like the couch. Alexis is definitely not walking yet, which is expected. It makes me a little sad only because I know most 1 years olds are either taking some steps and falling or actually full on walking. But at the same time it doesn't make me sad because the thought of her growing up does make me kind of sad and nostalgic, plus I know that because she was 3 weeks early and is super petite that she doesn't have that weight proportion to be there yet.

Alexis has become a crazy hugger, she holds super tight and lays her head on your shoulder and she is just so precious. She is also biting though, which hurts lol. She is so flexible too! (She gets that from me ;)) She'll bend forward and touch her toes and then stick her toes in her mouth lol and suck on them.

What is she babbling about?:
Alexis is "talking" a lot but not saying any specific words. Derek thinks that she is saying "daddy" but I'm pretty sure that's not true. Otherwise all those times she said "mama" would have been considered her first words. We'll see though, I think she is getting close to her real first word.

She is also drooling like crazy! She had her two bottom teeth and her two top teeth but a couple of weeks ago the two teeth on the side of her top teeth started coming in. It's really weird but when Alexis first started teething with the 2 pairs of teeth that first came in, she didn't cry very much but it seems like these teeth are hurting her even more, makes me sad. The baby Orajel has helped a little bit but I try not to use it unless she is really having a hard time.

How much is she growing?:
Alexis feels so much bigger now but I can't really give a good guess of what her weight is now. Last time at her 9 month appointment she was 14 pounds so I'd like to think she is at 18lbs but I think that is wishful thinking. I'm thinking more like 16lbs, which I hope is not the case.

Everyday Alexis looks more and more like me :) I love watching her grow and look older, she just has the cutest face. Also, I don't know if it's just me or what, but her eyelashes seem to be getting longer and longer. Also, Alexis has got to have like the most perfect tan I have ever seen lol, seriously!

I also love hearing from my mom that Alexis', aside from looking just like me, reminds her of me when I was a baby because of her little personality. She is just as sassy as I was.

What does she have coming up?:
Alexis' birthday is in 13 days! Her birthday falls on a Monday so we will be celebrating on Saturday the 19th. I will be getting the invitations this week and sending them out :) I have yet to get her ears pierced :( I'm super lagging it, I've been busy and have had other things to do so it's fallen by the wayside. Hopefully in May or June at the latest we will be getting her ears pierced :)))

Alexis has not gotten a haircut and I really don't want to cut her hair if I don't have to, so I don't think we'll be doing that anytime soon.

Alexis' 12 month doctor's appointment is next month, the week after her birthday. We were going to switch her doctor to one down here but decided against it. I really want to finish all her shots with Dr. Brown. So next month Alexis and I will be flying up to Sacramento for the day, really just a couple of hours. Her appointment is on a Friday, the day before my brother Alex has his high school graduation, and the day after her appointment I have a friend's baby shower and the day after that my brother's baby shower lol So much going on those 2 weeks in May! Derek won't be coming to the appointment with us because flights for him are super expensive, I have a credit for my flight so it won't be too expensive for me, so it will just be me and Alexis, I really wish he could be there though, he's never missed an appointment :(

What else is going on?:
Ever since Alexis was born I've had people up to now ask me if I want to have another baby and if I'm going to anytime soon? I remember the teacher in my old classroom in Sacramento asking me if I wanted more and if I wanted a boy next. Of course I [we] want more kids. I want 4, 2 boys and 2 girls lol, ideally.

I loved loved loved being pregnant and I miss it. It doesn't hurt that pregnancy was good to me :) except for the HELLP Syndrome part, hopefully that won't happen next time ;) However, even before we decided to get pregnant with Alexis we knew that we wanted to wait till Alexis was at least 2. I don't want 2 under 2. One under 2 and one over 2 is probably the perfect scenario.

Aside from the fact that our parenting plan has always been to wait for #2. I really want it to be just the 3 of us for a little bit. I want Alexis to have all our love and attention before be bring #2 into the mix. I want to do some traveling with my little girl and I would like for her to feel like she has gotten to be the only one for a little bit so that when I do get pregnant again she can appreciate the time we spent just the 3 of us and not feel jealous and be invested in her little sister or brother.

More importantly than all that I want us to be in a better financial situation as well as I need to lose some weight and get super fit. I know that with my first pregnancy I only gained 10 pounds, but I may not be able to get away with that next time. I've heard the second pregnancy you show quicker and that you usually gain more weight. It is hard to wait though when Derek tells me things like, "I'm excited to make another baby with you. I think we have the perfect family. Plus we make beautiful babies." lol I love that he is excited to add to our family once we are ready again :) Derek was amazing with me when I was pregnant; I felt loved, wanted, and safe. I feel sad for woman who don't feel supported while they're pregnant :(

I can't really think of anything else right now, but that's it for now. Enjoy!

Here is a picture of me and my girl :)